Beth Ditto kicked off the North American leg of her tour this week in her home state of Arkansas, supporting her first ever solo album 'Fake Sugar'. She's also hitting Europe - an incredible feat for someone who's also got a film and fashion career on the go.

Beth Ditto embarks on her 'Fake Sugar' tour

The Gossip front-woman began her 2018 run of dates at the Revolution Music Room in Little Rock on Wednesday (March 7th), followed by a performance at Nashville's Mercy Lounge the next night. Next week will take her to New York's Brooklyn Steel, after a live appearance on 'Late Night With Seth Meyers', and later in the month she'll appear at Los Angeles' Fonda Theatre.

Gossip's Beth Ditto is finally releasing her first solo album 'Fake Sugar'.

The memorable and charistmatic frontwoman of Gossip, Beth Ditto, is finally set to launch her eagerly anticipated debut solo album this year. Entitled 'Fake Sugar', the album is expected to be released in early summer, with the first single 'Fire' out now.

Beth Ditto launches her solo debut 'Fake Sugar'

Named BBC Radio 1's 'Hottest Record in the World', 'Fire' is the bluesy dance-punk first single from the album, which is available as an instant download on all album pre-orders. 'Fake Sugar' itself was produced by Jennifer Decilveo (Andra Day, Ryn Weaver), who Beth described as the 'rollerblades to [her] roller skates'. 'We'd argue all day long and I loved it', she said.

Beth Ditto sounds like she was having a good time on St. Patrick’s Day. Check out this police report from Bungalow Bar in Portland, which alludes to The Gossip singer ultimately being arrested for disorderly conduct:

“Officers arrived and contacted Patterson standing in the middle of the street with her arms extended from her sides like an airplane, and she was shouting (unknown what) as she blocked traffic. Four cars were stopped in the road and one driver was honking his her horn and yelling for Patterson to get out of the street. Patterson did not respond to police commands to get out of the street so she was taken into custody without incident and transported to jail for Disorderly Conduct in the Second Degree.”

Another witness told local paper Willamette Week that the singer "walked out in the middle of the street, threw off her shoes and purse and screamed OBAMA! OBAMA!" as friends arrived to try to put her in a car.” And that wasn’t all; it turns out Ditto had been refused service in the bar and was eventually kicked out. Someone on Reddit had written “…she was arrested for being a complete f**king c*nt. The bartender called the police because she kicked him in balls.” This apparently came after she’d apparently repeatedly pinched the Reddit user’s cheeks and told him to Google her when he asked her to stop.

The Gossip's Beth Ditto arrives outside the Ed Sullivan Theater before her appearance on 'The Late Show With David Letterman'. She shares a crude joke with photographers after asking if they had all the photos they needed, and then proceeds to sign autographs for fans.

The openly lesbian, 'Standing in the Way of Control' rocker has recently announced her engagement to her partner and former personal assistant Kristen. They will tie the knot in Kristen's home state of Hawaii next year (2013) in June. Beth's band has also released their fifth album 'A Joyful Noise' earlier this month